Astronaut Barbie Takes A Zero-G Walk To Inspire Future Astronauts

World Space Week is October 4-10, and a new astronaut Barbie doll is reaching new heights to encourage young girls to choose careers in space.

It's like looking in a mirror for Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. The new Barbie doll is her mini-me and has already completed her first mission – a zero-gravity flight.

“Maybe that footage, those images will, you know, kindle a sparkle of passion in some girl's heart and that would be incredible,” Cristoforetti says.

The Barbie is getting the training of a real-life astronaut. “Inside the cabin of the aircraft you are actually weightless, which means you are floating around in the cabin just like I will be floating weightless inside the space station,” Cristoforetti says.

Next year, Cristoforetti will become Europe’s first female astronaut to command the International Space Station, with Barbie by her side.

“It's not just a beautiful doll, it's a smart, accomplished doll that makes so much difference. I think it's remarkable,” says Maruška Strah, the executive director of the World Space Week Association.

Samantha's doll isn't the first astronaut Barbie. Mattel debuted its space explorer doll in 1965, even before NASA sent astronauts to walk on the moon.